ReportsCato Institute | Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Future of Federal Housing Finance Policy: A Study of Regulatory PrivilegeHow the two companies should exit their conservatorship has implications that reach throughout the global financial markets and are of key importance to the future of American housing finance policy.Heritage Foundation | Federal Highway Program Shortchanges More Than Half the StatesUnder the laws governing the federal highway program, the federal fuel taxes paid into the trust fund by motorists (18.3 cents per gallon) and truckers are returned to the states by a series of mathematical formulas that attempt to match the scope and usage of each state’s surface transportation system with payments received from the trust fund.[1] These formulas, however, embody a number of serious flaws that cause many states (called donors) to consistently receive shares that are less than they pay in, while others (called donees) consistently receive more.

NewsPolitico | Boston Globe has Mitt Romney's back on health careAfter a week of broadsides marked the fifth anniversary of his controversial Massachusetts health care law, Mitt Romney is getting some support from his home state paper. In an editorial Monday the Boston Globe writes that conservatives should giver Romney credit for "warding off various schemes feared by business."

BlogsHeritage Foundation | The President’s Medicare Plan: A Trojan Horse to Ration Health Care?Medicare, the federal health care program for America’s seniors, represents $30.8 trillion in long-term unfunded obligations. If Medicare’s runaway costs are not reined in, the program could cease to exist for future generations.NRO: The Corner | IPAB, Obama, and SocialismThey're back. Rationing, death panels, socialism, all those nasty old words that helped bring Republicans victory in 2010, and that came to seem so impolite after November of that year. They're back because of IPAB (Independent Payment Advisory Board).

Reports Heritage Foundation | Why Accountable Care Organizations Won’t Deliver Better Health Care—and Market Innovation WillThe Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) creates federal “accountable care organizations” (ACOs). In theory, ACOs provide financial incentives to health care organizations to reduce costs and improve quality. In reality, given the complexity of the existing system, ACOs will not only fail; they will most likely exacerbate the very problems they set out to fix.

BlogsReason: Hit & Run | America's Tax System In Just 72,536 Easy PagesIt's no wonder that even the government's own experts and officials can't figure it out. Any system of rules that requires in excess 72,000 pages to explain and understand borders on useless.

NewsBloomberg | Bernanke May Sustain Stimulus to Avoid ‘Cold Turkey’ End to AidFederal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may keep reinvesting maturing debt into Treasuries to maintain record stimulus even after making good on a pledge to complete $600 billion in bond purchases by the end of June.MarketWatch | Dollar slips versus euro as debt fears easeThe U.S. dollar lost ground Tuesday, while the euro rebounded from earlier losses as positive economic data balanced out worries about debt problems in Europe’s so-called periphery.

Econ CommentsMSN | Worrying about QE2The end of the Fed's program of quantitative easing will bring plenty of bumps but won't crash the US economy. Emerging markets could be in for a rockier road.Minyanville | Finland's Election Results to Fuel Surge in US Dollar?Finland doesn't normally sway world markets, but does have the ability to veto any proposed bailout by the European Union.AEI | Shooting the Messenger European StyleJudging by the recent actions of European parliamentarians, one could be excused for thinking that the primary cause of the European sovereign debt crisis was short selling by foreign speculators in general and the existence of the small European Credit Default Swap market in particular.Ludwig von Mises Institute | The EU CrackupThe core issue is whether Finland ought to be paying for bailouts for other EU states. In reaction to establishment support for the bailout, voters ousted the pro bailout ruling party and gave an upset victory to the bailout-critical conservative party.

BlogsThe Economist: Free exchange | Type the Title You Want People to SeeThe big risk now is that Europe will finally recognize the need for restructuring in Greece, but will again pursue half-measures that fail, once more, to get ahead of markets.

BlogsWSJ: Real Time Economics | Who Are the Other Triple-As?Standard & Poor’s Corp. cut its outlook on U.S. debt to negative, raising concerns that the country could eventually lose its triple-A rating, enjoyed by just 20 nations.Political Calculations | What Forced Obama to the Deficit Cutting Table?...the President's FY2012 budget proposal actually proposes to borrow money to pay for paying out Social Security benefits, which counts against the higher taxes and reductions in discretionary expenditures…WSJ: Real Time Economics | Economists React: S&P Outlook Cut ‘No Big Deal’Economists and others weigh in on S&P’s decision to put the U.S. sovereign rating on a negative outlook.Atlantic: McArdle | There's No Such Thing As Deficit Reform Without PainOne point to keep in mind, though: it's quite easy in theory for spending to exceed our taxing power. But tax revenue can't.Cato@Liberty | Budget Cuts Look FamiliarThey were all cut in 1995 under a rescissions package engineered by then-Speaker Newt Gingrich and cut last week in the budget agreement reached by Republican and Democratic leaders.

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This blog is a weekday economic buzz, news, opinions, blogs, research and data aggregated by the Joint Economic Committee, Republican staff. Disclaimer: The content posted here is provided for information uses only and should not be construed as the views of the Joint Economic Committee Republicans.